High Temperatures Set a Sunny Tone for the Holiday Weekend

Under bright, sunny skies and near record temperatures, crowds flocked to the beaches, sought relief at outdoor events honoring veterans, and broke out the hot dogs and barbecue grills, giving summer its traditional Memorial Day weekend kick-start.

Pacific Coast Highway was bumper-to-bumper with traffic for hours Sunday, mostly because of huge crowds at the beach, said Sgt. Phil Morris of the Malibu sheriff’s substation. He said it was the biggest beach attendance this year, but very orderly.

“We were surprised by the size of the crowds that came out today,” Morris said.

Similar conditions were reported in Redondo Beach, with the pier, Veterans Park, restaurants and the beaches full of weekenders soaking up the sun.

“We are just packed,” said Redondo Beach Sgt. Tom MacIsaac. “It’s wall-to-wall people.” He said no unusual problems were reported.

At Santa Clarita’s William S. Hart Park on Sunday, there were more people in line to buy soft drinks than there were to watch the first few minutes of a country music festival.

As time went on, families in straw hats and baseball caps gathered in bunches under the many shade trees.

“This bottle, this is about how much I’ve sweated already today,” 14-year-old Erica Saucedo said, holding a level hand up to the neck of a 20-ounce bottle. Erica and other children had walked back and forth to the park several times from a Newhall neighborhood blocks away.

Erica’s bare shoulders and neck were a sticky blue from the cooling sports drink she had allowed to spill over her body.

“I’d rather be sticky than hot,” she said.

Meteorologists said similar clear, sunny skies can be expected today, though temperatures may be a degree or two cooler.

Temperatures in the valleys pushed records Sunday but didn’t break them.

In the San Fernando Valley, the high in Chatsworth was 100, two degrees below the record for the date. It got up to 98 in Palmdale and 95 in Van Nuys. In the San Gabriel Valley, Monrovia recorded 101.

Meanwhile, temperatures at the beaches were mostly in the 70s, with a 68 in Malibu. The high in downtown Los Angeles was 84.

This heat wave marks another turn in the roller-coaster weather pattern of recent days, said Amy Talmage, a meteorologist for WeatherData. It started last weekend when a similar high-pressure system set records throughout the region, followed by low pressure that brought fog and drizzle by the middle of the week.

Today should bring slight cooling, as low pressure moves into the Pacific Northwest and sets the pattern for what some call “June gloom.” Fog should dissipate on the coast by midafternoon. Inland temperatures could reach 100 degrees, while the beaches should stay in the upper 70s.

The California Highway Patrol said eight traffic deaths were reported statewide during the first 36 hours of the Memorial Day weekend. That compares with 14 deaths during the same period last year.

One person was killed on Los Angeles County roadways, compared with three last year during the weekend’s first 36 hours.

The Los Angeles County victim was Alex Navarro, 8, who died from injuries suffered Friday night on the Santa Monica Freeway near downtown when the minivan he and his family were in was struck by a pickup truck.

The CHP reported that a suspect, identified as Santos Francisco Portillo, 21, of El Salvador, was arrested on suspicion of felony hit and run just after midnight Sunday. He was being held in lieu of $35,000 bail. CHP investigators said Portillo ran from the scene after the accident, leaving behind the pickup he was driving.

Times staff writers Joe Mozingo and Zanto Peabody contributed to this story.